Terms and Conditions for the Loughborough University Bursary, the Care Leavers’ Bursary and the PGCE Travel Bursary

These Terms and Conditions should be read in conjunction with the Terms and Conditions of Study. 

1. The Loughborough University Bursary (hereafter LUB) provides non- repayable, means-tested financial awards to eligible students to help with living and course costs.
2. For the LUB and the Care Leavers’ Bursary the term “relevant programme” refers to any undergraduate degree programme (including Foundation Studies) offered by Loughborough University. It does not include Art and Design Foundation Studies, which is a Further Education programme.
3. For the PGCE Travel Bursary the term “relevant programme” refers to the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE).
4. The LUB and Care Leavers’ Bursary consist of cash bursaries and tuition fee waivers. Both areas of support are subject to means testing procedures carried out by Student Finance England (hereafter SFE) or its equivalent in Scotland or Northern Support for PGCE students will take the form of Travel or Travel and Living Cost bursaries.
5. The Academic Year is as defined in University Regulation VI.
6. The University reserves the right to amend the Loughborough University Bursary, and the Care Leavers’ Bursary in the event of a change in the regulated undergraduate tuition fee for UK students.

1. Eligibility for Consideration

1. These terms and conditions relate to students who first register on an eligible programme for the academic year 2025/26.
2. The student must be registered on a relevant programme during the 2025/26 Academic Year. 
3. The student must be permanently resident in the United Kingdom (excluding Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) and be eligible for a UK Government student maintenance/living costs loan.
4. Students from Wales are not eligible for the LUB due to the enhanced support available to those students from Student Finance Wales.
5. The student must have applied for means tested student support from Student Finance England (SFE) or its equivalent bodies for the 2025/26 academic year. 
6. The student must be classified in SFE terms as a ‘2012 cohort’ or ‘2016 cohort.’ 
7. With the exception of PGCE students, any student who already possesses a first degree will not be eligible for consideration.
8. To be eligible for consideration for a fee waiver, students must not be in receipt of an official sponsorship.
9. PGCE students who are in receipt of a training bursary may be eligible for financial support via the PGCE Travel Bursary, but the value of the training bursary will be added to their household income and the total value used for the purposes of assessment. 
10. Undergraduate students undertaking reassessment will be considered for the LUB as long as they are studying with attendance during the 2025/26 academic year. 
11. Undergraduate students stretching their degree will be considered for the LUB as long as they are studying with attendance during the 2025/26 academic year.

2. Eligibility for the Loughborough University Bursary (LUB)

1. The student must have a household income after means testing within the qualifying range (see section 6 and Annex 1) in their 2025/26 application to SFE or equivalent bodies.  For the purposes of the PGCE Travel Bursary, training bursaries will be added to the household income and the total value used to determine eligibility
   and
2. The student must have been assessed and agreed to their HI being accessible to the University before the last day of the summer term of the 2025/26 academic year. Household Income made available after this date will be disregarded. 
3. Students on Part I in 2025/26 will be assessed for eligibility on their 2024/25 household income.
4. The student’s eligibility will be assessed each year they are registered on an eligible programme. 

3. Care Leavers’ Bursary

1. For the purposes of the Care Leavers’ Bursary, a Care Leaver is defined as a young person who has been in care of the local authority and/or Health & Social Care Trust for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14. Care Leavers who have subsequently been adopted, or are the subject of a Special Guardianship Order, will not automatically be eligible for this award.
2. The Care Leavers’ Bursary is not means-tested and therefore once a student has been awarded the Care Leavers’ Bursary, they do not need to re-apply in future years.
3. Students in receipt of the Care Leavers’ Bursary will not also be awarded the Loughborough University Bursary.
4. Care Leavers should contact Student Advice and Support Services by completing the form online by the last day of the summer term of the 2025/26 academic year to be considered for the Care Leavers’ Bursary.

4. Determination of Household Income

1. Means-testing procedures will be carried out by Student Finance England (or its equivalent in Scotland or Northern Ireland) in accordance with Government regulations.
2. Household income, as calculated by the means-testing procedure, will form part of the assessment for eligibility to the LUB and will be communicated to the University by Student Loans Company (SLC) if the student and his/her sponsor(s) have consented to the sharing of this information.
3. It is the student’s responsibility to challenge any assessment of their household income directly with the relevant student funding body if they believe it to be inaccurate.
4. If a student’s household income assessment changes in the 2025/26 academic year, the student will be re-assessed on the changed household income. This may affect eligibility to LUB or in the case of PGCE Travel bursary, affect eligibility to LUB or eligibility or the level of award for PGCE Travel bursary. The responsibility for requesting this re-assessment of household income by the relevant student funding body lies with the student. Changes to Household Income made available after the last day of the summer term will be disregarded, as per paragraph 2.2.
5. If for any reason a student’s household income is reassessed by the relevant student funding body (e.g. Student Finance England), the responsibility lies with the student to investigate this reassessment with SFE directly. 

5. Value of Awards

1. The values of the LUB awards for the current academic year are set out in Annex 1.
2. Undergraduate students who are studying less than 120 credits in the 2025/26 academic year will be eligible to receive the pro rata value of the LUB award, calculated from the credit weighting of modules registered with attendance, across the whole academic year, based upon a full time load of 120 credits.

6. Assessment and Notification Procedure

1. All students registered on an eligible programme who are eligible for the LUB will automatically be considered for the LUB.
2. Where a student is eligible for an award, notification will be made after the assessment has been completed.
3. The University will make an initial assessment of eligibility in September of each academic year and then undertake reviews each month until the end of the summer term.
4. If a student’s Household Income is amended during the 2025/26 academic year, the student’s eligibility for LUB will be reviewed. Any change in the value of the award will usually be backdated. If the review results in a reduction in the value of the award, the University will not usually seek to recover any overpayment that has been made.
5. If any LUB award is made based on inaccurate information provided by the student, the University reserves the right to recover the award made.

7. Method of Payment

1. Bursaries will be paid in instalments directly into the bank account which the student has nominated to the University through Student Self-Service and will normally be paid in three instalments as detailed in Annex 2.
2. Payments will be made in three instalments regardless of how many terms a student is in attendance.
3. The University is not responsible when payments are delayed because the bank account details have not been supplied by the student or if these details are incorrect.
4. Any instalments which cannot be paid by the last date of the academic year, because the student has not provided accurate bank account details to the University, will be cancelled with no eligibility for the instalment(s) to be paid at a later date.
5. If the required household income information is not available from SLC by the date required to trigger a scheduled payment, the payment will be made subsequently and backdated appropriately.

8. Cancellation or Suspension of a LUB Award

Withdrawal

1. A LUB award holder whose effective withdrawal date falls within the first four weeks of his/her programme will not qualify for any payment under the LUB in that year.
2. A LUB award holder who withdraws permanently after the first four weeks of his/her programme, will have his/her award cancelled with effect from the date of withdrawal.
3. A LUB award holder who is excluded from the University for disciplinary or other reasons, whether temporarily or permanently, will have his/her award suspended with immediate effect. If such a student resumes their studies at a later date, they will remain eligible for an LUB award on the same basis as other students.

Leave of Absence

4. A LUB holder who takes approved leave of absence during the course of an academic year will have his/her award suspended for the duration of the leave period.
5. A LUB holder who, having taken leave of absence, returns to the University in the subsequent academic year will have their bursary entitlement renewed, provided that they meet the eligibility conditions currently in force.
6. The terms of 8.4 above will also apply in cases where leave of absence has been approved retrospectively.
7. If attendance in the subsequent year is for only part of that year, LUB payments will be pro-rated accordingly on a credit basis.

LUB T&C 

2025

Annex 1: Awards

9. Loughborough University Bursary

If your Annual Residual Income is £30,000 or under then you could receive:

• Pre-degree Foundation Studies (Part F) – excluding Art and Design (Part FE):
  • £1,000 bursary
• Degree Year 1 (Part A)
  • £1,000 bursary
• Degree Year 2 (Part B)
  • £1,000 bursary
• Placement Year (Part I)
  • £500 Placement start-up grant
• Degree Year 3 (Part C)
  • £1,000 bursary
• Integrated Masters (if applicable) (Part D)
  • £1,000 bursary

10. Care Leavers' Bursary

• Pre-degree Foundation Studies (Part F)– excluding Art and Design (Part FE)
  • £5,700 bursary
• Degree Year 1 (Part A)
  • £5,700 bursary
• Degree Year 2 (Part B)
  • £5,700 bursary
• Placement Year (Part I) 
  • £500 placement start-up grant
• Degree Year 3 (Part C)
  • £5,700 bursary
• Integrated Masters (if applicable) (Part D)
  • £5,700 bursary

11. PGCE Travel Bursary

Annex 2: Payment Dates

Bursary payments are made in three instalments:

• Payment 1 (33%): 11 November 2025
• Payment 2 (33%): 10 February 2026
• Payment 3 (34%): 5 May 2026